Down & Dirty (Bundle) (25 page)

“
Leg’s hurt,” he rasped,
his voice weak. “Maybe broken.”

“
It’ll be all right,” she
soothed. “Just hold on.” A beam collapsed over by the bar, and
Lottie tried not to flinch. They had to get out, but moving
Thomas’s solid bulk across the floor wouldn’t have been an easy
task under the best of circumstances.

They’d made it halfway to the door when a
voice called her name, and a pair of strong, slender hands joined
hers. “Hurry, Lottie.”

Ginny.
Together, they made it through the door and out into the night
air. Lottie wanted to stop and just
breathe
, but being outside wasn’t
enough. The building could collapse at any moment.

Her friend’s words confirmed her suspicions.
“The roof’s about to go.”

“
Ginny!” Jack appeared in
front of them, looking disheveled. “Let me help. Lottie, go and
double check your girls for me. Make sure Sarabeth’s the only one
missing.”

She hesitated, torn between her duty to the
women in her employ and her concern for Thomas. “It’s his leg…”

“
I’ll take him straight to
Doc Baker,” Jack promised, already reaching out to slide Thomas’s
arm over his shoulder. “Meet us there after you get a
headcount.”

Her hands clenched into fists, but she
gasped and relaxed them as pain shot up her arms. “All right.
Ginny, can you help me?”

“’
Course I can, sweetie.”
The tall redhead had already pulled a handkerchief out of her
pocket, and she reached for Lottie’s hand. “Let me see
that.”

“
I-I have to
count.”

Ginny tugged her toward the crowd. “Count
while I wrap your hands, then you’re getting your ass down to Doc’s
too.”

Lottie complied, a little dazed. She
recognized it as adrenaline subsiding and shock setting in. She
wanted to sleep, or maybe cry. She wanted to follow Thomas, to make
sure he was okay.

Instead, she concentrated on making sure
everyone but Sarabeth was accounted for, while her business burned
behind her.

Thomas closed his eyes and concentrated
every bit of power inside him on his aching body, as if he could
force bruised flesh to heal through willpower alone. The pain had
faded a bit with whatever concoction the doctor had forced down his
throat, but the need to climb to his feet -- lame or not -- and
find Lottie was stronger than ever.

He ground his teeth together as the doctor
poked at his leg. “Is it broken?”

Doc Baker scratched at his beard. “If so,
it’s just a mild fracture. If you rest and eat plenty, it’ll be
good as new in a couple of days.”

Jack snorted. “And if he runs around like an
idiot wearing himself to a thread day in day out?”

The doctor shrugged one shoulder. “Then
he’ll be limping for a while. Month, maybe two. Maybe forever.”

The alpha nodded. “Crutches for you, Thomas,
if you move at all, or I’ll kick your ass.”

Thomas glared at Doc Baker. “You’re a damned
traitor, you know.”

“
You’re a grouchy patient,
Crawford.”

“
Speaking of grouchy…” It
was Ginny’s voice. She walked in with Lottie propped on her
shoulder. “This one fits the bill.”

“
Thomas.” Lottie’s face was
streaked and dirty, her voice hoarse from the smoke, but she looked
relieved to see him.

Thomas brushed the doctor away and held out
both arms. “Come here, Charlotte.”

Ginny glowered at him. “Hold on to your
horses. Lottie’s hurt.”

Doc Baker was all business again. “What’s
the problem?”

“
I burned my hands a
little, that’s all.” She held them out for his
inspection.

The elderly man huffed. “Well, sit over here
by Thomas before he strains something, and I’ll get them cleaned
up.”

The nervous energy inside him eased somewhat
when Lottie lowered herself to the bench next to him. Thomas curled
his arm around her waist and hugged her against his side gently.
“You saved my ass.”

She turned her face to his neck. “You scared
the hell out of me.”

He kissed the top of her head, then twisted
enough to watch the doctor as he examined Lottie’s hands. “How
bad?”

“
Just need to be
disinfected,” the doctor murmured, intent on his task. “They’ll
heal quick.”

Thomas cupped the back of Lottie’s head and
kept her face tucked against his neck as he looked to Ginny and
Jack. “You know Sarabeth’s missing? Ira Braswell’s my first
suspect. He’s pissed as hell she left him.”

Jack nodded shortly. “That’s where I’m
headed, once the fire’s out. I need to get back out there…” Jack’s
voice trailed off, and he glanced at Ginny. “You’ll keep everything
under control?”

She nodded. “Everyone else looks okay, but
we’re still going to file them through here to make sure. Doc could
use the practice.”

Doc Baker snorted. “I was an old hand at
this when you were in diapers, Virginia Howard.”

Jack made a rude noise
before glancing at Thomas. “I’m taking care of Sarabeth and the
fire.
You
get to
stay right here in this damn room and take care of Lottie and all
her girls. And you don’t need to go tromping around on that leg to
do it, so if I catch you running around, I’m going to finish
breaking it for you.”

The threat was just a little too angry
sounding to be frightening. Thomas knew from long association that
Jack was scariest when he didn’t sound angry at all. So he nodded
once and tried to look suitably disgruntled, as if he hadn’t been
planning to take care of Lottie all along. “I’ll be here,
Jack.”

“
Good. Lottie, don’t worry
yourself. Ginny and I are going to take care of this.”

Lottie shook, and it took Thomas a moment to
recognize her anger. “Do you really think Braswell would do
something like this just to snatch Sarabeth? Everyone could have
been killed.”

Braswell was an ass, but not this much of
one. Nor was he stupid enough to court the kind of retribution that
Jack would be likely to bring even if Lottie left any pieces of
him. “If he did, it got out of hand. I don’t know what happened for
sure, but I bet no one thought it would be this.”

Doc Baker finished rewrapping her hands.
“Now that they’re clean, they’ll heal fast. You’re fine,
honey.”

“
Thank you.” Lottie glanced
at Ginny. “Who needs to come in first?”

“
Nancy’s the worst,” she
admitted. “Just about everyone breathed in some smoke. Shorty
burned himself some trying to put out the fire, but he already
cleaned himself up.”

“
He’s bucking for my job,”
Doc Baker grumbled.

Thomas rolled his eyes. “As if you don’t
need the help. Ginny, take care of the rest of the town. Lottie and
I can manage here. I promise I won’t move farther than the bench
out front.”

“
Yell if you need me,
either of you. And if you don’t take it easy, Thomas, I’ll help
Jack break your leg.” She ducked out the door.

Lottie sighed. “At least they mean well,
even when they’re talking about breaking limbs.”

Thomas curled his arm around Lottie’s
shoulders and kissed the top of her head again, mostly to reassure
himself she was in one piece. “Jack’s been in a better mood since
he moved in with Ginny, but the two of them together are a bit
formidable.”

“
You mean bossy.” Lottie
rose and kissed him gently. “The sooner I take care of everyone,
the sooner we can rest.” She lingered, her cheek against his and
her mouth close to his ear. “I’m sorry you were hurt,
honey.”

She meant to leave him inside, which didn’t
suit him at all. He bit her ear as a warning before pulling back.
“Doc, you got a crutch for me? I’m going outside to help Lottie see
to her girls.”

“
I’ll help you,” she said
immediately. “Put your arm over my shoulders and lean on
me.”

Not the manliest way to
move, but being close to her was worth it. Thomas looped his arm
around her shoulders and rose to his feet. His leg ached when he
put weight on it, but not so much that he worried.
A day or two and you’ll be better.

And then he was going to find whoever had
started the fire and rip them limb from limb, even if it meant
defying Jack to do it.

Chapter Five

Lottie woke with Thomas’s warm weight
pressed against her back. She stretched, testing her muscles for
soreness, but the last day of rest and sleep had eliminated nearly
all her aches and twinges left over from the fire.

Even her hands were mostly healed. She
flexed them and smiled when she felt no pain at all. “Are you
awake?”

His arm curled around her body and tugged
her closer. “Was just thinking I should get out of bed and drag
myself onto a horse so I can go back to my place and check on
everyone.”

“
Without breakfast?” She
turned in his arms and rubbed her cheek against his chest. “I can
cook this morning.”

Thomas curled his fingers around her hand
and lifted it up so he could examine it. “Feels better?”

“
Mmm.” She closed her
fingers around his. “What about your leg?”

He kissed the heel of her palm before
answering. “Sore. Probably shouldn’t put more weight on it than I
have to, but I’ll manage.”

He shouldn’t be out at all. “I can go
instead. You need more time to recuperate.”

“
Lottie.” His expression
turned serious. “I can sit a horse.”

She growled and turned her face into her
pillow. “I know. I don’t have to like it, though.”

“
And I like you running
around with your hands still barely healed?” His fingers curled in
her hair and he tilted her head back just enough that she had to
look at him. “You may be used to having your way, Lottie, and damn
if I don’t want to give it to you most of the time. But I’m
not
an
invalid.”

“
Mm-hmm.” Lottie sat up,
smoothed her hair over one shoulder and began to braid it. “Will
you be riding out to talk to Jack too?”

Thomas made an annoyed noise as he tucked
his hands behind his head. “Jack shares your opinion of my
capabilities. Told me to ride back to my place and wait there for
him and Oliver.”

“
Does he have a lead on
where Braswell might have gone?” Trailing the man had been
impossible immediately after the fire. Even the pack’s best
trackers had been able to smell nothing but soot and charred
wood.

“
I think he might. Though I
was supposed to ask you if you knew why the man might have risked
this much over Sarabeth. If she ever told you anything, I
mean…”

She thought back, but
nothing sprang to mind. “All I know is how he acted whenever he
approached me about wanting her back. It never seemed like a
business transaction for him. It was always too personal, like she
was more to him.” Or he’d
wanted
her to be.

Thomas’s eyes darkened. “And I’m guessing
she didn’t agree, or she wouldn’t have gone to you.”

All Sarabeth had wanted was for him to leave
her alone. When he hadn’t, she’d come to the Full Moon Saloon. “No,
she didn’t agree.”

“
We’ll get her back,
Lottie.” He held out a hand to her. “Come here.”

“
I’m okay.” Still, she
slipped her hand into his. “I’m worried about her, that’s all. If
it’s like you said, and Ira just let things get out of hand the
other night… He might be feeling desperate by now.”

“
I know.” Thomas drew her
down into his arms. “Jack knows, too. And he’s not going to let
anything happen to her.
We’re
not going to let anything happen to
her.”

She nestled into his arms with a sad sigh.
“I should have known Braswell was concerned with more than lost
revenue. I should have known he was obsessed.”

Thomas’s fingers stroked gently over her
hair. “Did she tell you that?”

“
No.” Sarabeth had been
reserved about most of her personal life before she’d come to
Lottie’s. “She didn’t like to talk about him.”

“
Then you couldn’t have
known. We’re responsible for the people in our care, Lottie, but
we’re not all-powerful. And we’re not infallible. We need to know
there’s a problem before we can fix it.”

She turned her face to his hand. It was just
like him to make sure she didn’t feel as if what had happened was
her fault. “Spoken like someone who wants to make me feel
better.”

“
Spoken like someone who
has too many problems to fix,” he corrected softly. “Lottie
--”